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Greetings to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, with 3 British clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the standout match of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway point of the group stage, meaning the standings is taking form. All six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s games, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.